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Recent studies report that e-cigarettes may be doing more harm than good by encouraging non-smoking young adults to take up conventional smoking. This is in addition to other studies that have suggested that the devices may predispose users to cancers and cardiovascular diseases on the long run- Read more https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321205.php

Tackling The Scourge of Cancer; A Plea

The scourge of cancer continues to spread across our world beyond the boundaries of age race and color.

In spite of our knowledge of cancers, their risk factors, tumor markers and oncogenes, cancer deaths seem to continue to skyrocket with almost no restrictions as to which organs can be ravaged and totally taken over by cancer cells.

As some have said, if we look at the situation from a certain angle the warning from the World Health Organisation of a tidal wave of cancer sweeping the globe over the next 20 years could be considered a good news. Cancer used to largely be considered a disease of old age, with cancers such as breast, lung, colon, ovarian prostate and cervical been expected mostly in older age group – this meant that more people in the world were surviving long enough to get it. But while it is good to grow old (rather than die young) no one wants to die of cancer. However many cancers still kill people before their time as we have begun to some of the above listed cancers in the middle age group. Cancer has continued to impose an immense and growing burden on families, health systems and states that care to notice. Hence the WHO’s alarm call. 

The World Health Organisation estimates that the worldwide burden will rise by 70 per cent from 14 million cases in 2012 to 24 million in 2035, much of it borne by poorer countries. Of all the exports of the modern world, cancer is one of which we should feel least proud. Once a disease of rich countries it is now a global epidemic – and the Westernisation of traditional lifestyles is in large part to blame. Cigarettes, alcohol, fast food, sedentary lifestyles – all are fuelling its growth. 

Many believe that a huge percentage of cancer cases could be avoided, with "simple" dietary and lifestyle modifications. For example, Dr Christopher Wild, director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer says "Prevention is the key, with the single most effective measure thought to be curbs on the tobacco industry.  

In China, One billion deaths were recorded from smoking alone in the last century. Lung cancer remains the commonest form of cancer in China – and the world. It accounts for almost one in five of all cancer deaths.  

Asides from cigarette smoking, certain Western diets have been associated the development of cancers. Even with a family history of cancer or in someone already battling the disease, it is believed that this lifestyle modifications can help in fighting off cancer.   


What we eat and what we don't eat has a powerful effect on our health including the risk of cancer. For example, a daily serving of red or processed meat (bacon, sausage, hot dogs) increases the risk of colorectal cancer by about 20 percent , while eating whole soy foods like Green Soybeans (Edamane) can reduce the risk of breast cancer. How you prepare your meat also matters! ; Prepare meat, poultry and fish by baking, broiling or poaching fathers than by frying or charboiling. Whole grain breads, pasta and cereals should be choosen over breads, cereals and pasta made from refined grains. 

Dairy protein consumption has been implicated as a risk factor for prostate cancer, while eating more fruits and vegetables lower the risk of colon cancers and a variety of common cancers. Alcohol and Obesity have also been known to be drivers of cancers, especially breast cancers.  

Yes Cancers are deadly, unfortunately family history plays a role in many cancers yet we know that certain cancers are preventable, we've known that for the last 3 decades maybe. But what has the privileged West done about it? Are we really doing enough? Have we acted on all the volumes of information in our medical books and journals? From Smoking, to Obesity to Alcohol consumption to our diets? Are we going to watch the rates of cancer soar, from laryngeal to tongue to penile cancers. Is there yet something to be done by those who can? Bans on smoking and ultra-cheap alcohol may be a start, but can we do more? 

Is this a case of the Western world having started a global epidemic, asking the middle- and low income countries to do as they say , but not as they do? 

Certainly, tackling the scourge of cancer in the world over will require both genuine responsibility and action from all stakeholders in both the developed and developing economies from governments to individuals. Everyone has a Role, shall we?  


Medic-ALL Inc! ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL!!!

The Path to a Smoke Free World

Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times.”
― Mark Twain

Growing up , I remember watching those tobacco adverts on television that ended with that "ironic" but scary WARNING, that stated clearly that tobacco smokers are liable to die young. At that time, like most people, I simply concluded that smoking would surely have harmful effects on the lungs which would ultimately lead to death.

As years went by however, "medical school happened" and I knew a lot better. I learnt and realized (some times after losing a chronic smoker and alcoholic to an advanced esophageal carcinoma) that the dangers of smoking were not restricted to the lungs and that it infact affected nearly every system in the human body! From increasing the risk of strokes to coronary artery diseases to lung diseases, lung cancers, the proven association with bladder, cervical, esophageal, pancreatic, blood, colon and a couple of other cancers and the obstetric and gynecological dangers (preterm births, stillbirths, low-birth weight, ectopic pregnancy e.t.c) , tobacco smoking seems to do it all, and I haven't even mentioned what it does to the sperm of men, the health of bones and the risk of cataracts! And as far as those tobacco adverts on Nigerian television back then are concerned, recent researches have indeed shown that smoking could singlehandedly shorten one's life by up to 14 years!


Cigarette smoking causes up to 480,000 deaths (human deaths!) per year in the United States! At least the United States has figures and a great healthcare system to go with that. I can't imagine what the figures are like in some other countries with less developed healthcare structures.


I recently came acroos an article on what we can best refer to as a "health-obsessed nation" where there is the world's lowest population of smokers according the the World Health Organization. The country, Turkmenistan, is an oil rich former Soviet republic with some unconventional methods but interesting achievements.







The country's "authoritharian" president, Berdymukhamedov, is a dentist by training who has been in power since the death of his eccentric predecessor, Niyazov in 2006. Niyazov, himself campaigned against smoking and built a 36km "path of health" into the mountains surrounding the nation's capital, Ashgabat which government officials were forced to walk.


Some months ago, the country with about 5 million people held a month of public exercises and sporting events under the slogan "health and happiness".


About 25 years ago, 27% of Turkmen over 15 and 1% of women smoked. A decade later Turkmenistan banned smoking in public places, state buildings and the army as well as all forms of tobacco advertising. Comparing that with 31.1% of the global male population over the age of 15 smoked in 2012 and 6.2% of women were smokers, a statistics that has probably worsened. Recently a WHO overview showed that only 8% of the Turkmenistan population smoke, and this is the lowest National indicator in world according to the World Health Organization's Director, Margaret Chan.


The question is , what will it take to have such success stories reproduced in many countries where tobacco smoking continues to account for huge morbidity and mortality. Perhaps the truth is that there are yet lessons to be learnt and imbibed from the isolated nation of Turkmenistan where fewer than one out of 12 people use tobacco if the world is serious about saving itself from the dangers of smoking.


Medic-ALL Inc Anniversary Special


Refs: World Health Organization, the Guardian, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention


See also ; Smoking: Breaking The Habit

Smoking: Breaking the Habit

Medic-ALL (13:09:2014) via WebMD, Tom Valeo

Almost 70% of adult smokers say they want to quit; the most common reason given is concern about their health.

The concern is well justified. The four leading causes of death in the U.S. -- cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, and lung disease -- are all strongly linked to cigarette smoke exposure. One out of every five deaths in the U.S. can be attributed to smoking.

The dangers get worse with age. People still smoking in their 40s and 50s face a risk of death over the next 10 years three to four times greater than a nonsmoker's.

But gaining extra years are not the only reward for quitting. Other benefits begin immediately, according to the American Cancer Society, and they just keep coming.

Healthier Life

Within 20 minutes of snuffing out your last cigarette, your blood pressure and heart rate decline.

Within 12 hours, the level of poisonous carbon monoxide in your body from cigarettes has returned to normal.

Over the next few months, your lungs will regain their ability to remove pollutants efficiently, thereby reducing your risk of infection. Your ability to taste and smell will improve, and that chronic sinus congestion should disappear.

You may cough more, but that shouldn't be a concern because it means you're clearing the gunk out of your lungs and opening your airways," says Edelman. "In a few weeks you should begin to notice an increase in your exercise tolerance."

The Extreme Makeover

Michael K. Cummings, PhD, has spent 20 years studying the harmful effects of tobacco. He calls quitting "the extreme makeover."

"If you quit smoking early enough, by 30 or so, your risk of dying prematurely becomes almost the same as someone who never smoked," says Cummings, chairman of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute's department of health behavior in Buffalo, N.Y. "If you wait another decade, the benefits are about half of what they would have been. If you quit [then] you add eight to 10 years to your life."

An Array of Problems

Though everyone knows cigarettes promote cardiovascular disease and lung ailments, it's less understood that they promote an array of other ailments, says Cummings.

Peripheral vascular disease, for example, which constricts blood flow to the hands, feet, and other organs, is accelerated by cigarette smoke. "I've heard of it occurring in people in their 30s," Cummings tells WebMD. "The best treatment for it is, don't smoke."

Smoking, he adds, can also lead to macular degeneration, the No. 1 cause of blindness among older people. It also promotes gum disease.

Quitting brings psychological benefits as well, according to Cummings.

"Most smokers regret their decision to start smoking," he says. "When they quit, they gain a sense of control, a sense of empowerment."

Culled from WebMD